Sports and Culture Minister Joseph Habineza has praised the U-19 boys cricket team for their outstanding performance in the recently concluded ICC-Africa Division Two tournament in held in Lusaka, Zambia.

Rwanda finished first runners behind Tanzania, who earned promotion to ICC-Africa Division 1.

The team had paid a courtesy call on Habineza on Wednesday, a day after he assumed office, replacing Protais Mitali, who was appointed ambassador to Ethiopia.

The delegation, which was led by the Rwanda Cricket Association (RCA) president Charles Haba, included general manager Joshua Mwanja, head coach Edward Pearson and team captain Don de Dieu Mugisha.

The minister received the three trophies that Rwanda won in the tournament, which included the Man of the Tournament, Best Bowler and the first Runners-up.

Habineza appreciated the team’s work and asked the cricket body to decentralise the game across the country, especially in schools.

He thanked them for their dedication and hard work.

"Finishing second on the continental level is not a mean feat but we need to work even harder and be number one next time, we need to see Rwanda in the Cricket World Cup,” he said.

He added: "Winning needs more training and hard work, my advice to you (RCA) is to ensure maximum training among the players so you can achieve more success in continental competitions.”

In Zambia, Rwanda won three games; against Mozambique, Swaziland and the hosts, before losing to Tanzania and Ghana.